novka ćosović's empty swimming pool confronts visitors with the horrors of war

entitled ‘the museum’, artist novka ćosović has imbued an empty swimming pool with dark memories and harsh truths. presented as part of toronto’s nuit blanche festival, the installation shines a light on the everyday backdrops that so often set the stage for the the horrors of our age.

‘the museum’ was installed at artscape youngplace, toronto
image by giordano ciampini

the swimming pool, which novka ćosović constructed alongside carpentry studio atleier one five, was erected as a means of exploring the relationship between locations of trauma, the media, and the innate sense of domesticity that defines contemporary battlegrounds. wars aren’t fought in fields anymore but rather take place in civilian populated environments — bedrooms, bathrooms, schools and swimming pools — that then become the subject of our nightly news. ćosović’s ‘museum’ deals specifically with one swimming pool that was converted into a makeshift morgue during the civil war of the former yugoslavia. after having been filled with the bodies of casualties, it was attempted after the war to restore the pool to its original state and function.

the museum is a reimagining of a pool used as a morgue during the civil war of the former yugoslavia
image by giordano ciampini

as attendees of nuit blanche enter ćosović’s swimming pool they are greeted by the strange sloping wall of the deep end. the tiny repetitive tiles of the floor are instantly recognizable to most, but serve in this instance to visually discomfit the viewer, dazzling their eyes and directing their gaze towards the video projected on the opposite wall. as the film progresses, images are presented of hospitals bursting with wounded civilians, prisoners of war locked up in school bathrooms, a soldier shooting a gun from a bedroom window, and a swimming pool used as a morgue.

the tiny repetitive tiles of the floor are instantly recognizable, but serve in this instance to visually discomfit the viewer
image by giordano ciampini

‘at first, in this subtle museum, people would unknowingly pass through the space, unlikely to make a connection between the patterns that line the floor and walls and the acts of violence they are associated with’, says the artist. ‘over time, however, the installation begins to connect to the many news clips, photos and video loops of war on the projection screen’. while the gratification of most media is instant and the images of horror ever present in our newsreels, ćosović aims to present a space where the connections between the video and the tiled room are only slowly realized, gradually shifting the attitude of the visitors towards the pool from melancholy to dread.

ćosović aims to present a space where the traumas present are only slowly realized
image by giordano ciampini

‘the museum’ challenges the detached gaze with which we consume images of violence and war, and highlights the places and patterns that are so often are corrupted by conflict. ‘all the news clips have a common denominator: the backgrounds. they consist of swimming pool tiles, floral wallpaper, and two-toned painted walls. they are domesticated-institutional-communal spaces that are perverted by war and violence. these are architectural/interior spaces that people also use in their everyday lives.’

ćosović’s architectural graphic standard for a ‘perverted’ swimming pool

presented alongside the installation are a series of instructional graphics, slightly whimsical, profoundly uncomfortable, that outline how best to use innocuous spaces of rest and play for the functions of war. the illustrations include ‘rules of thumb’ for storing dead bodies, and demonstrate which window blinds are best for snipers. upon leaving the pool, visitors to ‘the museum’ are forced to reorient their relationship to the outwardly mundane materials and textiles that color their world, and to confront the ease with which a swimming pool can be filled with either water, or ash.

the illustrations are whimsical, but profoundly discomfiting

architectural graphics demand our reevaluation of domestic space 

1:50 scaled model of the pool corridor

‘the museum’ challenges the detached gaze with which we consume images of violence and war

visitors to ‘the museum’ are forced to reorient their relationship to the outwardly mundane materials

the swimming pool was constructed in collaboration with carpentry studio atleier one five
image by giordano ciampini

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: peter corboy | designboom